So I'm trying to get a series of expression pedals hooked up to control aux sends/insert effect parameters for live guitar playing. I can't seem to find a foot controller with say 4-6 expression pedals built in for midi use.

But that pedal doesn't seem to have much room between minimum and maximum settings... I'd like to say intricately control a tremolo rate, or something like that. Every other expression pedal I find doesn't have any mention of being re-mappable, and seems to be particular to volume. I'm not sure If i could mess with that in Ableton.

But my biggest concern is that these devices all say "Works with any device with an expression pedal input". Are they talking about things like damper or sustain input? I've never seen "expression pedal input". I've got a few of footswitch/pedal inputs on various devices, but I would like to know if there is a device specifically made for receiving information from these. I want to be able to hook up many of these pedals and map them to whatever I want. Has anybody done anything similar or have a solution for me?

midi keyboards usually have an (1)"expression" input jack..some of the digital multi-fx for guitar have it too...I don't know of any device with multiple exp. inputsthis one has 2 pedals built in...http://www.behringer.com/EN/Products/FCB1010.aspx

Yeah, I was hoping maybe they'd work anyway. I really don't wanna buy a random device just to get 1 exp in haha. I'm getting the FCB1010 but It's still not enough exp pedals to do what I'm trying to do. Maybe I'll just have to get two. The extra stomps won't hurt but its just such a circuitous solution.

I'm really surprised nobody has built like an 8 exp pedal midi controller

Yeah, I was hoping maybe they'd work anyway. I really don't wanna buy a random device just to get 1 exp in haha. I'm getting the FCB1010 but It's still not enough exp pedals to do what I'm trying to do. Maybe I'll just have to get two. The extra stomps won't hurt but its just such a circuitous solution.

I'm really surprised nobody has built like an 8 exp pedal midi controller

Do you need to use all six visible at once? The way the FCB works is not as you might expect (if you've never used one)

How the FCB works is: each of the numbered pedals switches the setup of the two expression pedals. The idea is that the numbered pedals are "presets" not triggers (as most Live owners actually use it) , the presets are also for the expression pedals. With that in mind, pressing pedal 1 might give you two expressions, pressing "2" gives you two more, etc, etc. Most users make the expression pedals the same on each numbered pedal (preset), but that's not how the fcb is meant to work.

Yeah, I was hoping maybe they'd work anyway. I really don't wanna buy a random device just to get 1 exp in haha. I'm getting the FCB1010 but It's still not enough exp pedals to do what I'm trying to do. Maybe I'll just have to get two. The extra stomps won't hurt but its just such a circuitous solution.

I'm really surprised nobody has built like an 8 exp pedal midi controller

Do you need to use all six visible at once? The way the FCB works is not as you might expect (if you've never used one)

How the FCB works is: each of the numbered pedals switches the setup of the two expression pedals. The idea is that the numbered pedals are "presets" not triggers (as most Live owners actually use it) , the presets are also for the expression pedals. With that in mind, pressing pedal 1 might give you two expressions, pressing "2" gives you two more, etc, etc. Most users make the expression pedals the same on each numbered pedal (preset), but that's not how the fcb is meant to work.

Wow no I did not know that. That is perfect actually, since I wanted to use the FCB to record to different tracks (as a looper/trying to recreate the boss RC20 with midi). I was thinking I would just have to use the expression pedals separate from that to control sends, but I could easily just buy another one and set up all my effects through inserts, using the stomps to trigger different effects, and exp pedals as paramater controls. Thanks a lot! That is actually a way better solution!

the fcb is really diverse...people have gone really deep in programming it...as far as making chips for it...if you intend to get one ...check this out :http://www.voes.be/fcb1010/uno.htm

hmmmm that makes me believe that the stomps aren't as mappable as I had forethought...

if you have one... would I be able to use the stomps as on/offs for a rack of insert effects? and by inserts I mean effects directly on the track rather than a send.. I don't think ableton uses the term "insert".

Also could I change the exp pedal parameters easily? I don't want to be limited to whatever it is defaulted to

So I'm trying to get this straight... there is a difference between "expression pedals" and "footswitches".

Expression pedals can send many values while footswitches are only on/off.

The footswitch inputs on the back of the APC40 (FS1 and FS2) will not accept an expression pedal, only footswitches. They are designed primarily for controlling hands-free recording functions.

To get a pedal with which I could control a filter cutoff in Live, I would need an expression pedal (not a footswitch). Incidentally, I can't find any USB expression pedals with my Google searches.... so I would have to get something like the Behringer FCB1010 and a USB-MIDI interface, to be able to control my filters with a footpedal.

Expression pedals also have 1/4" connections on them that connect to keyboards with appropriate inputs.... So I could buy an expression pedal, connect that 1/4" jack to a MIDI keyboard keyboard that has a 1/4" expression pedal input (like the Akai MPK25) and then connect that to my computer with USB (no MIDI interface needed).

It's tough being a lone newb... but rewarding when it all comes together